Vegetable-fiber scutching, heckling, and cleaning machine.



V A. G. BROWN. VEGETABLE FIBER SCUTCH|NG, HECKLING AND CIQEANING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.21.1917.

1,64,6U Patented Apr. 30, 1918.

ALFREDG. BROWN, OFLOS ANGELES; CALIFORNIA.

VEGETABLE-FIBER SCUTCI-IING, H'EGKLING', IAND CLEANING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented rhpinfill, 191d.

ApplicationfiledJ'une 21, 1917. SerialNo. 176,121.

To all whom timely concern:

Be it "knownthat I, ALFRED G. BROWN, a citizen of the United 'States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los 'Angeles and'State of California, have invented new anduseful Improvements in Vegetable-Fiber'Scutching, Heckling, and Cleaning Machines, of which the following is aspecilication.

This invention relates to vegetable fiber treating machinery and particularly pertains to a scutching, heckling and cleaning machine.

It istheprincipal objcct'of this inventlon to provide a 'machine of a simple nature which -may be easily operated to scutch, heckle and clean 'vegetable'fiber, such as the leaves of yucca plant and other vegetable material.

Another object of this invention is to provide a machine which 'may be readily adjusted to accommodate material of various thicknesses and lengths and willthoroughly scutch and heckle it so that it may thereafter beused for the making of rope, twineand other articles of manufacture.

It isa further object ofthis invention to provide a machine of the above character composed of a few simply deslgned elements adapted to be easily manufactured, and which are notliable to become broken, or otherwise render the apparatus inoperative.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention is illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1-is a view inside elevation illustrating the complete machine and particle larly disclosing "the relation of the scutching drums to each other.

Fig. 2 is a view in end elevation illustrating the drums and their clothing.

Referringmore particularly to the-draw ings, 10 indicates a base upon which are mounted bearing uprights l1 and 12. These posts are secured in spaced relation to each other upon the base and are held together by a transverse frame member. The vert1- cal supports 11 and 12 mayalso be suitably braced to form an adequate supporting structure for scutching drums 13 and 14:. The drums are made in duplicate and are mounted separately upon vertically alined mandrels l5 and 16. The mandrels extend outwardly from the large ends of the scutching drums and are housed within suitable bearings; the lower mandrellG being thereby secured within a fixed bearing mounted be tween the vertical supports. The upper mandrel is rotatably mounted within a box 17 which is positioned between parallel vertical ways secured between the uprights. This'box is adapted to be adjusted vertically by means of an adjusting screw 18 which is connected in a rotatable mannerto the'top of the box and extendthrough screw bushings 19 mounted in the upper transverse frame. A hand wheel 20 is fixed at the top of the screw and permitsittoberotated to raise and lower the box. Mounted upon eachof the shafts andv adapted to mesh with each other are spur expansion-gears 21'and 22 which insure that the two shafts willrotate simultaneously in opposite directions and at the same speed when the shaft '16 is driven by means ofthe pulley 23 secured thereupon.

The scutching elements have main central drums at and 24. and extension cones24: and 24:", upon the shafts l5 and 16. tions of these drums longitudinally straight side walls and the extension walls converge at the ends opposite the driving gears to produce the frustoconical bodies 24c and 2 1 tapering toward the drum ends. Each drum, formed asdescribed, provides a mounting for a series of scutching members 25 and cleaning-pins 26. The scutehing members extend the length of the drums 24k and 24 and are spaced in relationto each other transversely. These members referably are of angleirons, corresponding ii anges of which are secured by bolts 27 to the face of the drum, while theother flanges extend radially therefrom and form scutching blades. The outer edges of the scutching blades have a series of serrations formed along them which provide square teeth 24 having square gulle'ts and straight sides, although they may be made Without serrations, if desired. The ends 24 of the teeth are blunt and of a width equal to the width of theblade. An examination of Fig. 1 will disclose the fact that these The main 'porstraight cylindrical portions 24 and 24L of the drums and that smooth blades 24 are then formed with convexed portions having a radius somewhat greater than the diameter of the drum. These convexed blade portions are arranged along the inclined end which are concentrically mounted are cylindrical and have teeth 24 extend only the length of the portions of the drums and form a feeding throat 28 which permit the leaves of the plants to be fed intothe toothed portions of the drums. It is to be further noted that the teeth 24 upon the various scutching blades are staggered in relation to each other and are also staggered in relation to the teeth upon the opposite scutching drum, care being taken to cause the blades upon the two drums to coincide with each other in their paths of travel so that the leaves of the plants will be subjected to a combined action of the two blades as they pass toward and away from each other. Intel-posed between the various scutching elements are the sets of the cleaning pins 26. These pins are radially arranged upon the drum and terminate substantially along the circumferential plane described by the outer faces of the scutching blades. These teeth are mounted upon suitable plates 29 held by bolts 30 to the outer cylindrical face portion of the drums. A pair of guard boards 31 and 32 are secured upon the frame along the operating side and are spaced from each other, as partlcularly shown in the drawings, to form a throat 33 and an elongated slot3, through both of which the leaves are fed.

In'operation, the pulley is driven by a belt which transmits power from a suitable drivingmechanism. The rotation of this pulley will simultaneously drive shaftsvl5 and 16 through the medium of the gears 21 and 22 and in the directions indicated by the arrows '-a and -b-. The leaves of the yucca, or other fibrous material is then thrown between the guard boards 31 and 32 and into engagement with the rotating scutching drums. The operator holds to the ends of the leaves and swings them horizontally into the throat 28 at the right-hand end of the drums. The leaves are firmly held by the operator and the blades and pins allowed to tearthrough them, thus heckling and scutchingthem. This operation may be continued until the ends are thoroughly scutched, after which the leaves may be inverted and the opposite ends treated in a similar manner. The action of the blunt squareedged teeth will scutch the fiber and heckle it while the cleaning pins 26 will act to further clean and part the fibers. In case leaves of large dimension are being fed through the machine, the drums may be slightly separated to form a larger throat and greater space between the members.

It will thus be seen that by the use of this device, fibrous vegetable material may be thoroughly separated and a scutching action produced which will provide fiber suitable for various manufacturing purposes.

While I have shown the preferred construction of my vegetable fiber scutching, heckling and cleaning machine as now known to me, it will be' understood that various changes in the combination, construction and arrangement of parts, more particularly the scutching and heckling bars, teeth and cylinder clothing, may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A scutching and heckling machine, comprising a frame, a pair of parallel horizontal shafts, means whereby said shafts may be rotated in opposite directions to each other, drums secured upon said shafts, said drums having a cylindrical portion and one tapered end, blades mounted upon the drum and spaced therearound, said blades extending longitudinally of the cylindrical and tapered portions of the drum, teeth formed upon the portion of the blades extending along the cylindrical part of the drum, said teeth having square blunt ends and straight sides, and smooth convexed faces formed upon the blades extending.

along the tapered portion of the drums whereby a throat will be formed between and at one end of the drums and will cause the fibrous vegetable material to be drawn into the toothed portions of the blades.

'2. A scutching and heckling machine, comprising a frame, a pair of parallel horizontal shafts, means whereby said shafts may be rotated in opposite directions to each other, drums secured upon said shafts, said drums having a cylindrical portion and one tapered end, blades mounted upon the drum and spaced therearound, said blades extending longitudinally of the cylindrical and tapered portions of the drum, teeth formed upon the portion of the blades extending along the cylindrical part of the drum, said teeth having square blunt ends and straight sides, smooth conveXed faces formed upon the blades extending along the tapered portion of the drums whereby a throat will be formed between and at one end of the drums and will cause the fibrous vegetable material to be fed into the toothed portions of the blades, and radially extending pins interposed between said blades and adapted to act upon the fibrous material.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

ALFRED G. BROWN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

